Local Catholic leader welcomes selection of new pope

Monsignor Gerald Lewis of the St. Paul Catholic Church watched Wednesday afternoon as Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope and chose the name Pope Francis I.

Chuck Beckley/Sun Journal

By Francine Sawyer, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 05:13 PM.

A local Catholic leader welcomed Wednesday’s election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as pope and he looked forward to the new pontiff leading the church through a time of change.

Bergoglio, who selected the name Pope Francis I, succeeds Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who stepped down earlier this year.

“I am very pleased that a Latin American was selected instead of a European,” said the Rev. Monsignor Gerald L. Lewis of St. Paul Catholic Church in New Bern.

He explained that the Catholic Church’s largest group of adherents is in South America.

“It makes good sense,” he said.

Lewis said the selection demonstrates how the church is growing and bringing a more universal picture to the Vatican.

“He has a good background and I am pleased he took ‘Francis’ as his name,” the monsignor said, adding that St. Francis was a humble saint. “He will bring about some reform that is needed; and address the recent scandals of the church.”

A local Catholic leader welcomed Wednesday’s election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as pope and he looked forward to the new pontiff leading the church through a time of change.

Bergoglio, who selected the name Pope Francis I, succeeds Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who stepped down earlier this year.

“I am very pleased that a Latin American was selected instead of a European,” said the Rev. Monsignor Gerald L. Lewis of St. Paul Catholic Church in New Bern.

He explained that the Catholic Church’s largest group of adherents is in South America.

“It makes good sense,” he said.

Lewis said the selection demonstrates how the church is growing and bringing a more universal picture to the Vatican.

“He has a good background and I am pleased he took ‘Francis’ as his name,” the monsignor said, adding that St. Francis was a humble saint. “He will bring about some reform that is needed; and address the recent scandals of the church.”

Lewis also thinks that a universal picture of the church will evolve with the leadership.

Francis will be the eighth pope that Lewis has served since becoming a priest 52 years ago.

The election of a pope is a centuries-old process. Since 1271, the church’s highest-ranking clerics, the cardinals, have voted in a conclave, or private meeting.

Lewis said it is unusual for a Jesuit priest to reach such a position. He said usually Jesuit priests do not become bishops or cardinals.

“I have read information about Pope Francis,” he said. “He has a good background and he is humble he will bring about reform.”